Rejected Events
by E. Beatrice
Summary: While Ichigo fight Aizen in Karakura town, Orihime rejects the Hōgyoku. The act itself if quick, but the repercussions will last for years to come. 4/4 chapters.
1. Part One

**A/N: So I know there was an important plot point where Aizen merged with the Hōgyoku, but we're just going to ignore that for the sake of this Orihime power-fantasy fic, ok guys?**

* * *

Captain Unohana is the one to suggest that Orihime and Uryuu stay behind for a time, after Ichigo travels to Karakura town.

"You both look like you need some rest," she says, not unkindly. The two know better to protest in any case – they have learnt over time to recognize even Unohana's sweetest orders.

Still, Orihime frets. They shouldn't stay here. What if…

"It's alright," say Chad, Rukia and Renji, all one after the other, all in different ways, "Ichigo will win."

Only Uryuu doesn't promise her victory. He was there with her, during Ichigo's last battle. He knows what it took him to win. He too has doubts.

All around them, members of squad four buzz about in a flurry of activity, tending to the wounded. Orihime offers to help (and even as she does, she feels a pang of guilt: _my body belongs to Aizen-sama_ whispers a small, scared voice), but she is quickly denied.

"You must _rest_ ," the squad members insist, "you are not well enough to help."

Resentfully, she reminds them that Captain Zaraki was happy to have use of her skills, only a few hours ago.

"That was then," he calls from afar, "but they're right. You'd be of no help now. I can see it from the look on your face."

She turns to her namaka. "What does he mean?" she asks. No one answers.

Then, Uryuu says, "I take it to mean that you look like me."

Orihime doesn't understand him at first. He looks just as he did before everyone arrived. But by then, she had had time to grow used to the look on his face. His features had been haggard and haunted for a lifetime already, it seemed, before anyone arrived to find them.

 _I look like that?_

She thinks about it. She remembers the blinding fear she felt throughout Ichigo and Ulquiorra's battle. She remembers the all-consuming dread she felt when Aizen announced his plans to destroy her home before that.

 _No,_ she thinks, _I must look worse._

* * *

As they rest, Uryuu and Orihime are mostly forgotten. Uryuu recovers from his surgery, which Orihime notices, was not closed up too well. No doubt, she realises, this was on purpose. Soul Society doesn't want haggard humans fighting their battles now that things have gotten serious (never mind that they have been serious for months, as far as Orihime is concerned –as far is Uryuu is too).

Uryuu catches her glancing at his wound and rolls his eyes, wincing a second later. "I wish they'd let you fix it," he says, "your healing works much faster."

Suddenly, an idea comes to Orihime. It floats into her brain, like her eccentric recipe ideas used to, but once it lands, it takes a much stronger hold on her.

"Uryuu," she says, "I can heal you, but then I need you to take me somewhere."

He eyes her warily and she understands why; the last time she made this request, things went very badly, very quickly.

Still, he nods. "Where do you need to go?" he asks.

"Not far from here," replies Orihime in a whisper, "to where Aizen keeps the Hōgyoku."

Uryuu's eyes widen. He is both shocked by the daring of what his friend is proposing, and confused by it.

"You want to steal it?" he asks.

She shakes her head gently, "no," she says, "I want to destroy it."

Uryuu furrows his brow, "I thought it couldn't be destroyed," he says.

"There is a way," says Orihime determinedly, "but only I can do it."

* * *

As they travel through Huenco Mundo, a black dust flies off their faces, cleaned away by the wind. Curious, Orihime brushes a sample off her cheek and examines it. She gapes in horror upon realising that the substance isn't dust: it's ash.

Frantically, she tries to wipe it all off, causing such a fuss that Uryuu is forced to land his transporter so that she might recuperate.

Once they are moving again, he says, quietly, "he seemed to care for you, in the end."

Orihime smiles weakly. "That's not possible," she says, "Ulquiorra never cared for anyone."

* * *

Finally, they arrive at their destination. Uryuu dawdles, keeping an eye out for hidden arrancar or a Shinigami trail. Seeing neither, he joins Orihime as she marches steadily towards Aizen's chambers. Everything is as it was: the large couch is still pristine and there, in the middle of the room, is the column that contains the Hōgyoku.

"I'm surprised there's no one guarding it," says Uryuu.

Orihime nods, "me too."

Gingerly, she approaches the column. It opens for her, revealing layer upon layer until finally, there it is – the Hōgyoku.

No sooner does the gem reveal itself that a blast emerges from the column, threatening to kill them on the spot. Orihime is quick and shields them both from the blast, but it is unrelenting. No doubt Aizen invented this attack – a delayed cero, or perhaps a kido, destined to rage until any theif approaching the Hōgyoku disintegrates into ash. It reeks of his personal touch.

This thought gives Orihime an idea.

"I reject!" she cries, turning her shield into a weapon and sending it after the cero blast. Struggling to hold her ground, she throws all her energy into the attack. Slowly, the cero blast recedes into a smaller and smaller entity, until it is nothing but a small ball of light and then until it is nothing at all. It is as if the blast never existed.

"That was amazing," says Uryuu, "since when have you been able to do that?"

"Just now," she replies. Aizen told her that her power of rejection was limitless – that she could use it to rewrite time itself. She wasn't sure that was true until this moment.

She looks upon the Hōgyoku, fragile and unprotected. That Aizen would prepare such a meagre defense for his prized gem, a defense that _she_ could easily get past can only mean one of two things. Either, he never believed his own speculation about Orihime's powers and that his esteem for them was just a ruse that turned out to be true; or, more likely, he never thought Orihime would make it anywhere near the Hōgyoku in the first place.

Orihime doesn't hesitate. She summons her Shun Shun Rika and what's left of her energy and calls out, clearly, "I REJECT!"

* * *

"I can't believe you did that," mutters Uryuu as they fly back. Orihime keeps quiet, but she stares at her hands in disbelief. The Hōgyoku is gone thanks to her powers –thanks to her. She should be happy, but all she feels is dread.

After a moment, she says. "I hope Ichigo is okay."

Uryuu's smile is tight, "yeah," he says, "me too."

They travel in silence a little while longer, both wrapped up in their own worries. Uryuu's face is grim, his mouth set in a terse line. Orihime bites her lip.

"What do you think he'll do to us," asks Uryuu after a long pause, "if Aizen finds out?"

"Kill us probably," says Orihime with a little laugh. It's quite unlike her regular laugh –dark, cynical, and inappropriate – a mad girl's laugh.

"Let's hope Ichigo wins, then," he says.

Orihime nods. She always hopes that Ichigo wins, but this is different. For the first time, she hopes that Ichigo kills Aizen, because if he doesn't…

Because if Aizen lives to learn what she has done, he will surely come for her.


	2. Part Two

**A/N: A bit of context - this bit takes place right after Yhwah's defeat.**

* * *

Perhaps his remaining bonds are stronger than expected, or perhaps she is blinded by her love for Ichigo, for when Orihime arrives in Soul Society, she does not immediately recognize Aiezn's presence. He wagers it's a bit of both, though the second option seems to weigh heavier in the grand scheme of things. He watches as Orihime crouches by Ichigo, insisting she heal his cuts and scrapes. He sees how relieved she is to see Ichigo alive and well after yet another battle. How she _smiles_.

"It is good to see the sun shining again," says Aizen, from behind her, "Orihime."

Quick as a whip, she turns to face him, her smile gone and her eyes wide with fear. "Aizen-sama," she says. The minute the words are out, she clamps her hands over her pretty little mouth, shocked at the treachery of her own subconscious.

Aizen smiles smugly. It's been so long since someone's addressed him with respect.

"I was wondering when you might show up," he continues, approaching her slowly. Around them, there is chaos as the whole of Soul Society sets about healing the wounded and clearing the rubble. Aizen isn't naïve enough to think that the new Captain Commander has given him enough leeway to escape –he can feel Kyoraku's eye on him even now – but the frenetic pace of the work and the sheer magnitude of what must be done will at least give him a little time to settle certain things. "You've certainly been busy since we've last met," he says. "Haven't you, Orihime?"

She doesn't respond, but her terrorized scare is enough to let him know that his suspicions are correct.

Behind her, Ichigo stirs. Orihime nearly jumps out of her skin turning to look to him. "Don't move," she whispers, "please." When she turns to face Aizen again, she places herself directly in front of him, shielding him with her body. Aizen wonders if she has a plan, or if she is acting on instinct. Is she so love-struck that she plans to front the force of the blasts he might throw at Ichigo?

How very touching.

"You didn't answer my question, Orihime," says Aizen, "and yet I know you heard me. I can see it on your face." She pales. "You've been quite a pest, haven't you?"

From behind, Ichigo stirs, "what's he talking about, Inoue?"

Aizen raises an eyebrow, "you haven't told him?" he asks, smiling.

Bravely, Orihime raises her chin and retorts, "told him what?"

"The obvious, of course," says Aizen, dropping his smile, "that you destroyed the Hōgyoku."

Orihime gasps, her eyes filled with dread, her body trembling. _Good_ , thinks Aizen. She should be scared. His wrath was immense when he realised that the gem he had spent decades pursuing had ceased to exist – it still is, and now that he has found the culprit, he means to see that she pays.

Behind her, Ichigo stands up slowly, his eyes fixed on Orihime, his face expressing both bewilderment and newfound respect.

"When," he asks, "when did you…"

"While you were fighting," she says, her eyes fixed on Aizen, "In Karakura town."

 _How interesting_ , thinks Aizen.

"H-how," sputters Orihime, her focus now completely on him, "how did you know?"

Aizen shakes his head, "really, Orihime," he says, grabbing her chin, "did you think I wouldn't find out?" He tightens his grip, allowing his hold to become painful, bruising her pretty face. "I thought your time in Las Noches would have taught you better than that," he says, letting go.

She stumbles backwards, to where Ichigo was a few seconds ago. Startled not to fall on him, she turns her head to find him standing shakily, preparing his attack.

Unflappable, Aizen moves towards her. "One lesson I'm sure you learnt," he says, pointing his finger towards her as he prepares a kido spell, "is that subordinates who displease me will be severely punished." Just then, he points his attack at Ichigo. "Kido 90," he says, "Kurohitsugi."

With a speed perhaps even she didn't know she could muster, Orihime jumps to block the blast.

"I reject," she cries, calling upon her peculiar powers to block the blast. A glowing shield, larger and stronger than the ones she summoned in the past, keeps his attack at bay. No matter, he should be able to shatter it soon enough, when suddenly –

Orihime's shield _morphs_. It becomes a sphere, containing within it his weakening kido. With considerable effort, she is reducing it, –no, she is rejecting its very existence.

"Clever girl," says Aizen, momentarily astounded by her display, "so that's how you did it," he mutters, thinking back to the trap he had set to guard the Hōgyoku. She barely notices, keeping her focus on the rapidly diminishing blast, not letting up until it is completely wiped away, replaced with the blinding light of Orihime's power.

She's barely finished this display, when Aizen feels his binds return tenfold.

"Playtime is over," says the new Captain Commander, tightening the binds with one hand as several over Shinigami pitch in and tipping his hat respectfully to Orihime with the other. Seeing him and the others, Orihime relaxes slightly.

It eventually takes the entire kido corps to re-apply the bindings to full capacity and to return Aizen to his cell. Throughout it all, Orihime keeps her eyes focused on Aizen. Her limbs tremble; her whole body begs her to collapse. She fights it, and forces herself to stand up straight. She will no longer be weak in front of him.

Ichigo joins her in her watch. Deftly, Orihime returns to healing his smaller wounds, barely taking her eyes off Aizen as she does so. Ichigo stays with her after she's done, watching over her as she watches over Aizen. Spotting this, he can see their shared future long before it happens. He can see the family they will be, long before a child is born.

He casts a glance at the girl who has just defeated him. Her expression is wary, insecure. From it, Aizen wagers that this is not the last he will see of Orihime Inoue.

* * *

 **A quick thank you to everyone who's left a review/favorited/followed this fic. You're all exceedingly lovely.**


	3. Part Three

**Again, thank you for all the lovely feedback!**

* * *

The dreams of Aizen start when she's pregnant. They're just that – dreams- at first, but once her son is born they seem to become more sinister, until they descend fully into the territory of nightmares.

He appears not as an image, but as a menace, always after she has attempted to reject the Hōgyoku. Sometimes he merely smirks from afar; others, his face is inches away from hers. A few times, his fingers grip her face, like he did that day in Soul Society, and when she wakes up she _swears_ she can still feel them leaving marks.

In every dream, he always says: "did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

* * *

Perhaps it is conjecture, but when Orihime is roused in the middle of the night by one of these nightmares, only to hear Kazui crying in the distance, she is struck by a terrifying thought, that, once it hits her, she cannot shake off.

"It's Kazui," she tells Ichigo, who was already up, tending to their son, "when Aizen says he wouldn't find out, he means Kazui. He _knows_ , Ichigo. He knows about our son."

Ichigo has fought Aizen enough to know that is one of the things he does best – twisting the minds of his victims so that his mere shadow looms large and threatening. He's seen it in his wife for years now, no matter how much she tries to hide it. Even with all his power, he finds that he cannot chase away this fear. He can only comfort her the best he can.

"Come here," he says outstretching his free arm, balancing Kazui in the other. - holding his crying family close.

* * *

Orihime travels to Soul Society. She can tell from the look Ichigo gives her as she leaves that he doesn't agree with what she intends to do, but he doesn't try to stop her.

Shunsui is happy to see her at first, until she explains why she's come.

"You do understand that what you're asking goes against every rule, every protocol, every law I can possibly think of?" he asks, his gaze weary.

"You did it once," retorts Orihime, her tone more accusatory than she intended. She cannot help it – she _needs_ Shunsui to agree.

"That was for the good of Soul Society," says the Captain Commander, fanning himself, "what you're asking for is far more…" He doesn't say the word _selfish_ but it lingers in the room all the same.

"Please," begs Orihime, "for my son's sake," this last plea is half a lie. She needs this for Kazui, yes, but she also very selfishly needs this for herself, too.

"Well," he begins, "Soul Society does owe you a debt," he says, "for destroying the Hōgyoku."

He could have just as easily as said, _for not coming after you_ of _for thinking that you had gone willingly._ From the look on Shunsui's face, he knows this, but Orihime doesn't mention it. He has not yet granted her request and she does not want him to change his mind.

Finally, he says, "consider this a repayment of our debt to you," and Orihime thanks him sincerely, "there is one condition though," he interjects, "I will come with you."

* * *

The cell is dark, buried deep underground. It is made of a stone that suppresses spiritual pressure. Orihime can feel her own powers fighting against the oppressive blocks. She cannot imagine living in such conditions.

"Orihime Inoue," says the smug, comfortable voice she's come to dread, "I knew I would see you again."

"Aizen," she says, deliberately.

He smiles at this, then says, "Congratulations are in order," he says, "you have a child."

Orihime feels sick. It is a feeling a hundred times worse than the suppression of the stones.

"A son," she says reflexively, before adding, furisouly panicked, "how did you know?"

"Isn't that why you've come to visit me," he mocks, "to beg me to leave your darling child alone?"

Orihime bristles against his words. She hasn't come to _beg._

"I could," she stumbles, "I could reject _you_." She's guessing, but then, it was Aizen himself who theorised that her power was limitless, that it trespassed on the realm of the gods. Staring down Aizen right now, imagining his hands on Kazui, she would like very much to be a god.

From behind, Shunsui places a hand on her shoulder. It is a gentle touch, but the message is firm. _Not on my watch._

"It wouldn't do you any good," says Aizen, "to destroy me."

She stares back at him, startled.

"Your son will always be a target," he continues, "with you for a mother and Ichigo for a father," –Orihime nearly jumps when he mentions her husband's name, and even Shunsui seems surpised- "his spiritual pressure will attract all sorts of assailants. He will never be safe from it all –not truly."

Orihime nods. It feels as if she knew this already.

"To protect your son," continues Aizen, "it isn't me you need to conquer."

"It's your fear of him," finishes Shunsui.

Orihime nods again; their words ring true in a way that few do. It is as if she has always known exactly this, but she has been too scared to face it.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asks, standing less rigidly straight. Shunsui's grip on her shoulder lessens as well, though he by no means lets go.

Aizen smiles, "mainly so you don't try to kill me," he says sardonically, "and I have been starved for conversation recently," he adds.

Then, before either Shunsui or Orihime can interrupt him, he says, "Do you remember when I showed you the Hōgyoku?"

"Y-yes," stutters Orihime.

"Did you ever wonder why I showed it to you?" he continues. "I'll tell you," he says, and Orihime notes that he seems genuinely pleased to converse. She feels a wave of gratification, realising that even the mighty Aizen chafes under the yoke of imprisonment. "When your friends arrived in Hueco Mundo to rescue you, I thought it might be wise to give you incentive to stay put."

Orihime casts a nervous glance at the Captain Commander. She has a sense of where this is going, and she is unsure of how he'll react. How will he judge her for not running to her rescuers?

"You're a clever girl," continues Aizen, "and I knew that if I showed you where I kept the Hōgyoku, you would put two and two together and realise that you were the only one who could hope to destroy it."

"That seems like a _quite_ the risk," interjects Shunsui.

"It was a gamble," concedes Aizen, his tone lighter, his smug smile playing at his lips. Then, turning to her, he says "did you ever wonder, why no one came after you, when you were taken from your cell?"

Orihime _has_ wondered. More than once, the thought has crept up on her as she lies awake in bed, unable to sleep.

"You were playing with me," she says.

Aizen smirks, approvingly. " _Such_ a clever girl," he says. "I knew where you were from the moment you left your cell. And I found it suited my purposes for you to spend some time there, in the vast expanse of Hueco Mundo, watching Ichigo fight, powerless to help".

Orihime bites her lip. She remembers watching those fights, feeling as though there would never be an end to the watching, to the worry.

"But that was just part of the plan I'd devised," says Aizen. "Yes, _devised_. I gave you the keys to my destruction, Orihime – I meant to ensure that you would never use them."

"Oh," she says. "Is that why you made me swear those things?"

He nods. "I made you a comrade to your enemies. And I did more. Menoly and Loly, Nnorita, Grimmjow – I pulled the strings that brought them to terrorize you."

Orihime vividly remembers the fear the arrancar caused her. To learn that Aizen was pulling the strings all along is…disconcerting.

Still, a rebellious thought plays at her lips. "But I still destroyed it," she says, "the Hōgyoku."

"That's the point!" Aizen's voice rises slightly, enough to surprise her. Even Shunsui is taken aback enough to stumble a bit. "None of it worked. I meant for you to be so scared that you would not have it in you to go near the Hōgyoku. I taught you how to ruin me and then meant to break you before you could even try."

She remembers a battle on a dome. She remembers crying out.

 _Help me Kurosaki-kun,_

It almost worked, she thinks.

But it wasn't _Aizen_ who triggered that, she recalls.

"What about Ulquiorra?" she asks.

"Ulquiorra?" Aizen ponders aloud, "I assigned him to you so that you would come to distrust your greatest defense against me," he says, "your humanity."

"Oh," she says again. She remembers an outstretched hand, crumbling to ash.

 _Are you afraid?_

 _I'm not afraid._

"The last one didn't work," she says.

"As I said before," says Aizen, "none of it did."

* * *

The journey back to the surface is quiet for the most part. It is only as they reach the end that Shunsui speaks up.

"It never sat well with Yama-Ji, that he waited so long to send troops after you," he says, "he was prideful, so he never came out and said it, but I think he regretted it. You were a human caught up in our war," he continues, "we should have intervened sooner."

Orihime notes the slip from _he_ to _we_ , but doesn't mention it. She nods, accepting the apology.

"Well then," says the Captain Commander, his tone warmer, more jovial, "that was quite a day. How about you stay for some tea –or perhaps some sake?"

Orihime politely declines. It _has_ been quite a day, and she finds, as she steps into late afternoon light, that she is exhausted.

Exhausted, and desperate to get home to her family.


	4. Epilogue

Hollows still attack Karakura town and Soul Society still sends a shinigami to patrol the streets. It's known as a dull post though, as the many talented humans who still live in the area tend to reach hollow threats before the designated Shinigami can get a crack at them. Depending on the Shinigami, some take it better than others.

The current shinigami is an ambitious sort and has complained of the lack of practice. So when Orihime rises from bed in the middle of the night, sensing an approaching hollow, Ichigo tries to convince her not to go.

"Give the kid a chance for once," he mumbles, sleepy, but also worried. Orihime's been quiet since returning from Soul Society earlier today.

"Kazui's crying," says Orihime, and indeed he's been gurgling on the baby monitor since the hollow appearance woke them both up. "I'll take care of it."

Kazui isn't really crying when she finds him in his crib – not the way he does when he's hungry or he needs a change. He's whining and not for the first time, Orihime wonders if this is a reaction to a strong spiritual pressure. Picking him up, she remembers Aizen's words from earlier – _your son will always be a target._ She holds him close.

Outside, the hollow is roaming the streets, unchecked. The ambitious Shinigami has yet to react. No doubt he's let his guard down. Looking down at Kazui, she's reminded of a conversation she has with Isshin when she was pregnant.

"There's no point hiding who you are –who they are – from them," he'd said, "your kids figure it out eventually. Masaki and I tried to hide that part of ourselves from Ichigo and the girls, and look where that lead us."

Orihime had giggled then, but now she considers Isshin's advice seriously. Kazui won't escape his fate –it's better that he know how to face it.

Carrying her baby, she quietly steps out of the house and together, she and Kazui travel onwards in search of the hollow.

They find the hollow near Orihime's old apartment. Somehow, this seems right. She remembers how lonely she felt living there –both before and after her time Las Noches. She remembers jumping at the opportunity to move in with Ichigo, earlier than she would have planned, so that she could escape that place and its unhappy memories.

Just as Kazui will have to face who he is, she must face her past. She cannot keep running in fear from a past that has happened if she wants to protect her new family from the future that is yet to come.

The hollow notices them then – humans with strong spiritual pressures. It cannot help but attack. Quickly, Orihime calls upon her Shun Shun Rika.

"I reject!" she calls out, hands still wrapped tightly around Kazui. Her familiar orange dome entraps the hollow, eating away at its form until there is only a sad spirit, trembling alone in the street.

"It's okay," says Orihime, going towards the spirit. It's a young boy –she feels a familiar pang of fear upon seeing him, but she lets it pass. Her son is here, safe, with her. It is this spirit who needs help. "It's okay," she says again, staying with him until the ambitious Shinigami shows up to help him pass.

Orihime watches him go, and waves as he passes on to Soul Society. Kazui, who's been quiet throughout their adventure, starts to cry again, probably because of the drop in spiritual pressure.

"It's okay," she tells him, "it's okay, it's okay."

And then, to herself:

"It's okay."

 **END.**

* * *

 **And when they get home, Ichigo is waiting for them and tells Orihime "we could have at _least_ waited till he was walking."**


End file.
